Posted on 12/27/2013 3:01:19 AM PST by afraidfortherepublic
Hospice patients are expected to die: The treatment focuses on providing comfort to the terminally ill, not finding a cure. To enroll a patient, two doctors certify a life expectancy of six months or less.
But over the past decade, the number of “hospice survivors” in the United States has risen dramatically, in part because hospice companies earn more by recruiting patients who aren’t actually dying, a Washington Post investigation has found. Healthier patients are more profitable because they require fewer visits and stay enrolled longer.
The proportion of patients who were discharged alive from hospice care rose about 50 percent between 2002 and 2012, according to a Post analysis of more than 1 million hospice patients’ records over 11 years in California, a state that makes public detailed descriptions and that, by virtue of its size, offers a portrait of the industry.
The average length of a stay in hospice care also jumped substantially over that time, in California and nationally, according to the analysis. Profit per patient quintupled, to $1,975, California records show.
This vast growth took place as the hospice “movement,” once led by religious and community organizations, was evolving into a $17 billion industry dominated by for-profit companies. Much of that is paid for by the U.S. government — roughly $15 billion of industry revenue came from Medicare last year.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Supposed to die....wow....such loving words...
My mother is 100 years old and in assisted living where she has many aides who help her with everything and a full time nurse on duty at all hours of the day, or night. We had a private (outside) nurse looking in on her who kept pushing us to put her in “hospice” for added benefits. We finally fired the nurse.
bkmk, this one is going to be REAL good!
Real compassionate people there. However, IMO, Hospice care isn’t what’s killing Medicare. I’d look first at all this ancillary medical equipment these daytime commercials try to get seniors to apply to Medicare for:
Hover Round
Fat Butt Scootie
Catheters delivered to your door
Blood testers delivered to your door
Electric stair escalators
Medical Transportation vans (for Dr appointments)
These are just a few, and if a company is willing to do all the paperwork for you at no charge, they are overcharging Medicare for it is my guess.
Draining?
How dare they survive, they should be dead as intended! Compassionate progressives for the people. We could use(waste) this money on the living, more entitlements to improve thier lives rather than wasting it on terminally ill cnacer patients that are suppose to die but end up living. Oh the humanity
My mother died at 84 three years ago. In my sister’s home in her own room that she loved. She hated hospitals, nursing homes, and particularly hospices - death houses she called them.
I hope your mother is doing well. It is nice to see someone of that age still around. They have so much they can tell us that we aren’t hearing today from our [ugh] leaders.
That’s what Hispice is supposed to be for. Unfortunately there comes a time when medical intervention no longer works and one must accept that. Years ago Hospice did a wonderful job with my grandmother. She elected to terminate her cancer treatments and Hospice kept her pain-free while she died at home. The caregivers were so kind, talked with us about losing her, and even brought cookies for my younger cousins. So yes, Hospice is for those who are supposed to die. There is really not another way to express this.
See my post 10. Also, what I think this article is saying is that people who should not be are being shoved off onto Hospice. Hospice was created for the dying, not those who actually might recover.
My sister held the power and she did nothing to stop the tests. It was awful.
Family should die at home if at all possible.... its very hard but you gain something by standing by your duty and commitment to a parent or other family member or relative or close friend
Hospice was a Godsend
Can't say one thing bad about the concept.
But do be careful about home healthcare if you can afford it
Basically 8-10,000/month for round the clock....keep close eye on dope and if you are lead family member...you gather it for hospice at death
Many caregivers take the work just to glom the dope....it can be a 10000 dollar windfall for them....watch em
Watch yer goods too
We had one wonderful to my mother but she stole the dope at the end and Hospice burned her up believe me...they knew too
Helps to have a lot of family nearby but you learn quick some family are asswipes....lazy and self centered and have no problem letting an alpha relative do it all
I’ve always maintained that if you give a doctor enough time and free reign, he will kill you. Especially an oncologist. Some of the stuff they dispense is nothing more than medicinal rat poison.
Go ahead! Call me cold-hearted if you want, but this is a perfect example of political correctness gone awry! These people are handicapped for Pete's sake. Most are elderly, many VERY elderly! The scooters are meant to be TRANSPORTED TO THE STORE in a vehicle!
Hospices = compassion we can’t afford!
It is cheaper to put someone up at the Waldorf Astoria with round the clock nurses than to put someone in a hospice.
Sounds good but I wouldn’t be caught dead in NYC
All I know is that hospice was very compassionate towards my mother and father-in-law at the very end of their lives and helped ease them in their pain until they passed. Until that time, I had never had any real experience with them and knew little about them. If you have ever been with your loved one at the end of their life when they are in pain you will understand the true value of hospice. I would expect that anyone who speaks ill of them has not had any experience with them. For me, it was a relief knowing they would assist their passing as painlessly as possible. I found their nurses to be professional and very caring in both cases. I think they choose people that are well suited for that particular job which is difficult.
The average survival in an inpatient hospice is several DAYS. Medicare pays for six MONTHS.
Referrals are made much, much too late in the vast majority of cases.
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